Election Data Protection Toolkit

Collect evidence lawfully, protect your people.

Election work involves personal data at every turn: agents' and observers' details, photographs and videos from polling units, voters who appear in evidence, and supporters on mailing lists and messaging groups. Collected carelessly, that data creates legal risk and can put people in danger.

The Election Data Protection Toolkit helps campaigns, observer groups and civil society organisations collect evidence lawfully and protect the people involved. It is built around the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 and includes a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) template tailored to election activities, together with model privacy notices for the main situations in which election data is collected.

The toolkit explains the lawful bases for processing in plain language, shows how to limit what is collected to what is genuinely needed, and sets out practical steps for storing, sharing and deleting data, including evidence that may later be needed in court.

It connects to the evidence work described in Weaponising Elections and to the War Room Manual, OSINT Verification Guide and IReV Audit Methodology, so that evidence gathering and data protection are planned together rather than in conflict.

It suits campaign war rooms, observer coordinators, CSOs and data teams.

Educational material, not legal advice. Take advice on your organisation's specific obligations under the NDPA 2023.

Tags: data protection, NDPA 2023, DPIA, privacy notices, election evidence